NPD Update 3.59 (05/25/05) by Acorn Data Systems

New Release Adds Features to Make You More Productive

 

What’s on this NPD CD?

·         New NPD Installation—to install NPD on a new computer.

·         NPD Update—to update NPD with the latest features on your current computer.

·         AcornFTP—to install AcornFTP on a new computer.

·         Adobe© Acrobat Reader 5.5—the free software for reading PDF files.

You may install any of the four applications on this CD that you need. It is redundant to run both the NPD Update and the New NPD Installation, since they are both at the same version. The New NPD Installation and the AcornFTP may restart your computer.

 

Save This CD

In the event that you buy a new computer in the future, you can use this CD to install NPD on your new computer.  Then use NPD Tools to download the latest version before you restore your database to the new computer.  If you don’t do this NPD may not run until you do.  See the NPD Technical Note How to Install NPD on a New Computer which is on the acorndata.com web site.

When NPD says your database is of a newer version than NPD, you must use NPD Tools to download the latest version of NPD.  NPD requires this so you don’t cripple your database by using an obsolete copy of NPD.

Modifications and Buttons to Look for in NPD 3.59:

  1. Phone lookup in Daily Mail has improved.  Now if you enter just the last four digits of the telephone number, NPD will find all numbers ending with those four digits.  This is often easier than typing the full number in 111-222-3333 format.
  2. After many warnings, some of you still are using the fourth line of the Bill-To Address.  With this update, only the first three lines will print on bills.  To see if you have any, go to Special Functions and click Use of Bill-To Line 4.  Bill-to addresses should be of the form:

Company Name ATTN: Person Name PO# 1234, etc.

Street Address or PO BOX

City State Zip

                                                                All three lines may contain up to 60 characters.

  1. List Transactions for PAN.  A new feature has been added to list all downloaded transactions for a PAN.  The button has been added to the Enter Daily Mail screen, the Washington Post Online screen, and the Process Transaction screen.  When the PAN is known from the screen contents, it is filled in for you.  Remember, NPD retains only the past 90 days of transactions.
  2. After performing an OP to BR flip, a Bill Now button is available for immediate billing.
  3. The Process Transaction screen now has an Address Maintenance button.  In the rare cases where you need to look at addresses, you no longer need to exit the transaction processing to get to them.
  4. When you have duplicate addresses, you can now change their route number.  When combining duplicate addresses, NPD just picks one to retain.  If the two addresses are on different routes, NPD may pick the wrong one.  Now you can avoid that.
  5. The Main switchboard now has a mail icon in the upper left area of the screen. This will print a page addressed to Acorn Data Systems, Inc.  It is designed to fit the window billing envelope.  In addition, a couple of address stickers are enclosed with this update.
  6. A new function, List Files in Dropbox, has been added to the Washington Post Online switchboard.  You can use this to see the dates of your daily transactions (mailnn.zip), OP Credits, OP Tips, etc.  If today’s transactions are not yet available you will see the mail file for today’s day number has last month’s date.
  7. Two new <System> filters have been added.

<Expired RPO> selects accounts with an RPO edition in effect after the RPO expired.  This usually means you are under billing the customer.  You can use the Set Sbr Service Date to a future date to see if you have some that should be expiring soon, but the Service Change to end the RPO is not present.

<Edition is RPO> selects all customers who are currently on a special offer.

  1. Days Paid Thru – A new report, Days Paid Thru Report, has been added to the Billing switchboard. This report calculates the number of days from now (or some other date you specify) that the customer is paid through.  A negative number represents days in the past and a positive number represents days in the future.  NPD stops counting at about 365 days.  Only BR customers are considered.  The default is to print customers 28 days or more in arrears.  A graph on the last page includes all BR customers. 

 

FYI: Tips that will make your work a little easier

1.      Passwords:  The password to download a NPD update from NPD Tools is update. The password to FTP an Export for Address Check is earl.   Unless you had it changed, the password for the dropbox.washpost.com used with the Washington Post Online feature is your agent number.

2.      When to Call Acorn Data:  The best time to call with problems or questions is Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., or between 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Please limit calls at other times to emergencies only.

3.      Be Safe, Back Up Your Work:  Use the Backup on Normal Exit option on the Main Switchboard to automatically back up your work on NPD. This feature is not a replacement for external backups (you should continue to do that), but it is a convenient way to restore your database.  The Acorn Data fee to recover from a problem when you lack adequate or reasonable backups is $200 for the first hour.  The purpose of this fee is to encourage you to keep backups for at least a week as sometimes a problem is not uncovered for several days.

4.      NPD Technical Notes.  From time to time, a new Technical Note will be added.  Go to NPD Technical Notes from the www.acorndata.com web page and note the How Tos listed there.  You may want to print and save some of them.

5.      Keep Up to Date, Get on My Email List:  Stay informed of updates, tips and other valuable information. If you are not already on my email list, send an email to emerrill@acorndata.com. Include your name and area number. Also, remember to notify me of any changes to your address, phone or email.

 

Earl O. Merrill

Acorn Data Systems, Inc.

emerrill@acorndata.com 410-997-0187 www.acorndata.com